The best
by Kurumaka
Summary: "His shaded eyes gazed at his favourite member of the Army, the boy he kept watch over, yet couldn't see past his façade, the boy who he adored, yet knew so little about, the boy he loved, yet couldn't save." [SKYLOX, Army AU] [TW: Character death]


"Hey Sky!" The man in question turned around to face the owner of the voice, a Canadian dressed in plaid shirt and jeans, who was smiling widely.

"What's up, Mitch?" Sky asked, the sunbeams reflecting off of his sunglasses.

Mitch smiled, positively beaming, and it kind of reminded Sky of the way he smiled when he was with his Bacca, "There's a new recruit who came a few minutes ago."

Sky's eyebrows rose and it only made Mitch smile wider. The Canadian turned around, but waited until he heard the Commander behind himself. They entered one of the buildings, a plain one storey house, where Sky could see a young man sitting on the recruit chair in front of a table.

The Commander and Mitch sat on the opposite side and Sky looked the new guy up and down. He had shoulder length brown hair with matching eyes and he was wearing a white V-neck and black skinny jeans. There were black and green headphones hanging around his neck.

Sky's eyebrows rose yet again. The boy didn't exactly look like he could fight very well.

"What's your name?" Sky asked.

"Ty," the boy responded, eyes rising to meet with Sky's shades. There was no fear or hesitance, and Sky liked that.

"Well, can you fight?" Sky asked, his arms crossing themselves on their own accord.

"Of course I can," Ty said, sounding slightly upset, like he couldn't believe they would ask such a ridiculous question.

"Really? Show me," Sky challenged, pulling his own sword out and Mitch handed his to Ty.

—-

Never would have Sky thought he would lose to _a new recruit_, but now, panting on the ground, with Ty standing over him, the golden blade of Mitch's sword at his throat, he had to accept it.

This boy, Ty, would make a very fine addition to his Army.

—-

Exactly as Sky predicted, Ty was indeed an excellent addition, always outshining every other soldier and making it to the top of any chart. He was promoted multiple times already, in only a span of a single year.

He became Sky's left hand of sorts, much like Mitch was. He was put in charge of his own squad, the soldiers under him becoming the best ones in the whole army.

To put it lightly, there were many jealous of him, his looks (let's face it, he looked really good), and most of all, his success. He was the target of daily pranks, but he took them surprisingly well, Sky noticed, dirty looks, though he ignored them and looked mostly straight ahead, and was the center of everyday rumours, though they seemingly went in one ear and out the other.

This was another thing Sky adored in Ty. How he managed not to get angry when people _literally_ talked shit about him in front of him was beyond Sky. He got another promotion, becoming a General and taking the duty to look over the whole Army when Sky wasn't present.

Of course, what no one knew was that Sky kept watching over his General.

The pranks have gotten significaly worse, sometimes making Sky want to lash out and tell the little fuckers to get down and do a million of sit-ups. Literally. But Ty took the pranks calmly, in fact, the only time Sky actually saw the brunet raise his voice was when talking to all soldiers, making sure they all heard the commands that came from Sky himself.

The dirty looks were still ignored, and the General always looked straight ahead, to the person he was talking to, or at some papers he was carrying. The rumours have gotten nearly unbearable, all reaching Sky's ears and making him want to gag.

People spewed shit about Ty, but the young General didn't seem to mind, only telling them to quiet when he couldn't hear his own words. Sky gaped at that scene, unable to react properly.

One evening, when the brunet General was retiring into his private room, the Commander followed him. He stopped Ty before he could close the door by placing a gloved hand on his shoulder.

"Sir?" the brunet turned around, tired chocolate eyes with a hint of velvet in them gazed into Sky's own shaded ones.

"Are you okay, Ty?" Sky asked, letting go of Ty's clothed shoulder.

The General managed a small smile, though Sky could clearly see it had been faked, "I'm absolutely alright, Commander."

"If you say so," Sky mumbled, turning to leave.

The doors to Ty's room closed, but Sky stood silently in the empty, silent hall. He was pretty sure Ty _wasn't_ alright, as he put it. He was proved right, but oh, how he wished he wasn't, when he could clearly hear small, broken sobs coming from behind the metal door.

Sky, not missing a second, grasped the door handle, but it was, as expected, locked. The Army's doors were pretty much indestructible, so Sky didn't even try to bust them down, he just leaned against them, ear on the cold metal, and listened to Ty's whimpers.

Ty was sitting on his bed, a picture grasped firmly in his hands. It was a picture of two young boys holding each other, smiling widely into the camera. One was Ty, although a good few years younger, and the other was a brunet, holding a toy model of a spaceship. Their faces were blurry with the droplets falling onto the laminated paper from Ty's eyes.

Pale, shaking fingers held onto the paper, their owner's shoulders shaking with the broken sobs leaving his chapped lips.

"J-Jason…" the brunet mumbled, gazing into the picture, "I… I-I'm sorry… I re-really am…" he managed to force out between gasps, "I-I avenged you… Bu-B-But I… I'm-I'm sorry, but I just… can't do th-this anymore… The-They are… I just… Can't…" pale hands moved to his face, hastily trying to wipe away the flood of tears falling down his cheeks, "I-I can't take it an-a-anymore… I-I guess… I'll see you… in a s-second…"

The picture was gently set onto the plain covers and Ty's still shaking hands reached to his belt, into the small knife holder on his right hip. His fingers curled around the black handle, his bloodshot eyes watching the unnatural, white light reflected on the unflawed, sharpened blade.

His eyes flickered to the wet picture and his hand gripped the blade tighter. He grasped the picture and hugged it tightly to his chest.

He took in a shaky breath and let his mind wander. He could see him, his smiling face, as he ran around the backyard holding his toy, making weird and funny noises, and pretend he's in space. Ty would stand by, acting as whatever villain his brother wanted his to do, the two of them having epic battles.

The hand gripping the military knife moved up, trembling hand stopping in front of his chest, the knife's tip trembling only inches away from his white shirt.

The Jason in his imagination stopped in front of him, shoving the toy ship into his hands, "I wanna be the bad guy today, Ty!" he squeaked, raising his arms and making claws out of them, "Wraaagh!"

Ty took off running, pretending to be scared, outstretching the hand holding the toy, waving it around.

His hand trembled, but another glance at the picture he then crushed back against his chest reassured him. His hand steadied itself, bringing the blade closer.

—-

Getting to Mitch and taking the spare keys took Sky only a few minutes, but it was an eternity in his opinion. As he fumbled clumsily with the key, he called out, "Ty? Ty, are you still there?"

There was an audible gasp and a few very loud, shaky breaths, as Ty tried to compose himself to sound at least a little bit convincing. It didn't work very well.

"Y-Yeah! Don't- Don't come in!" he winced at his voice breaking. The blade shook slightly, but Ty's hand stayed in the uncomfortable position over his chest. Glancing at the door and at the picture, he was torn between two choices.

He could either move his hand and finally meet his brother again,

or he could put the knife down and continue being with Sky.

Both choices were very attractive, and Ty's heart was torn when he was to choose one. Sky was a great man and a great Commander, and it pained Ty to know he developed feelings for him, feelings he shouldn't have developed, but he did.

Quickly reminding himself that the feelings would not be reciprocated, and his with a last glance at the door, his wrist flicked, and a searing pain, only lasting a split second, stop through his body.

—-

Finally managing to open the metal door, cursing under his breath as he did, Sky shoved it open and barged in, stopping dead in his tracks in the middle of the sparse room.

Before him was a sight he never even imagined happening.

Ty was laying on his bed, the front of his white shirt bathed in crimson, his military knife, _the knife that Sky gave him_, sticking out of his chest. There was blood all around, and slowly dribbling onto a picture that had fallen next to the bed.

Sky slowly bent down and picked it up, using his hand to wipe away the blood. Two pairs of identical brown eyes stared back at him, looking innocent and happy. He could identify Ty in a beat of his heart, but he didn't know who the other boy was.

The picture fell from his hand, landing back in the slowly enlargening puddle of Ty's blood. Sky's knees gave way, and they hit the bare floor with a painful thud and sickening splash. His shaded eyes gazed at his favourite member of the Army, the boy he kept watch over, yet couldn't see past his façade, the boy who he adored, yet knew so little about, the boy he loved, yet couldn't save.


End file.
